Time perception as a function of reinforcement and punishment: an exploratory study

In this paper, time perception as a function of reinforcement and punishment is investigated within a retrospective paradigm. The experiment used a computer game simulating a maze, where the participants controlled an avatar and had to make path choices between left and right to progress. Under punishment (P-), “wrong” choices resulted in the loss of points; under reinforcement (R+), “right” choices produced points. In the control condition (C), there was no presentation of points. The data of 49 participants (n=49) were analyzed in this study. At the end of the task, the participants were asked to estimate the playing time and to evaluate how much fun the game was. The results show that Group R+ presented overestimation in relation to real time, while Group P- did not distort temporal perception. In addition, the real time spent finishing the task differed from the control condition for both experimental groups (P- higher and R+ lower than C). Game appreciation was slightly more positive for condition P-, but this difference was not statistically significant. These results suggest the influence of operant contingencies on temporal perception and the independence between these contingencies and reported fun.Keywords: time perception; verbal estimation; reinforcement; punishment; video games.